Important: Please Read! Changes Are Coming!

[ashockney]

This is not as easy as you may think in the UK. Having sought advice on this subject, certain requirements for "Social Enterprises" (which this may be seen as generally falling under) can be difficult to achieve. Not-for-profits, not so straight forward.

Then file in the US.

The world is flat, my friends.

 

[pedr]

Morrus lives in the UK. Any income he generates for himself has to be declared in the UK. It is going to be most convenient to create any corporate body connected with ENWorld in the UK, under the UK's company laws. I know almost nothing about company law, but our distinction is between charities and non-charities, and charities have to be for some demonstrable public benefit. I'm not sure ENWorld could count! Even if ENWorld could be a charity, I'm not sure I can imagine what benefits there could be.

 

[Mark]

I know almost nothing about company law, but our distinction is between charities and non-charities, and charities have to be for some demonstrable public benefit.

It keeps any number of us away from the general population for many hours a day. That's gotta be worth something, charitably speaking.

 

[Hammerhead]

Charging three dollars per month for a signature seems quite pricey, and many people in the community will (quite rightly, might I add) feel that they're losing a feature. A feature that's free in every other message board I've been a member of. And while I'm not a subscriber now, I certainly wouldn't pay extra money just to have one.

On the other hand, if this change funds a better Gamer Seeking Gamers function of EN World, I'm all for it. I think many of us could gain far more from finding people to play with than reading some pithy unrelated quote.

Surely, however, there's better ways to increase profitability at EN World than taking away features from the community, then finding a way to charge money for them. First, I wonder if EN Publishing (and WotBS, etc.) even make any money at the end of the day, or if it's just a "vanity" project. Obviously, I haven't seen your financials, so I don't know.

Also, EN World provides a huge service to the game creators like WotC and Paizo by creating a popular RPG community. I don't know whether EN World has kept me playing D&D but reading and participating discussions about D&D has certainly raised my overall interest, and doubtless resulted in the purchase of more gaming products overall. Why not charge game companies for game-related forums (probably at a monthly/yearly rate)? I'm sure that the 4th Edition forum has some value to WotC; ditto for Paizo and their own flagship product. The main stumble here would be to make sure that WotC buys the forum.

Finally, the ads on EN World kind of suck. Well, for the most part, they really suck. Civony (the one with the ads that are practically softcore porn) being the most egregious offender. If there were some kind of quality standard for these ads, you could charge more, and you probably wouldn't have to make turning them off a bonus feature for subscribing. They could actually add value to the community (hey, here's something we think the typical EN Worlder may be interested in!) instead of being some garish eyesore.

 

[Orius]

Just glancing through the control panel, the only other obvious thing currrently set to "off" is Animated Avatars.

Restricting animated avatars wouldn't bother me too much, but otherwise, avatars often make it easier to distinguish between different posters. So I wouldn't want to see that feature lost.

Vbull does have an ignore feature, where you can specifically ignore a person's posts. You never see them, unless someone quotes them. Depends on if Morrus has it turned on here. I've never had a need to see if it worked here or not.

I'm pretty sure there's a user ignore function. I never use ignore features anyway, so it's no big deal, but in any case, the mods usually crack down on the worst offenders fairly well, so that keeps offensive posters from proliferating. Maybe that could be a subscriber feature?

OK, folks, I've been poking round the admin panel, and it appears that gradiated sigs are indeed feasible. This sounds like a good compromise to me so - with thanks to you all for the feedback - that's the direction in which we're going to proceed.

Sounds fine to me; losing my sig would be disappointing but not a major loss. This way, all I lose is the image, and that just promotes 4e, so I can live without it.

Finally, the ads on EN World kind of suck. Well, for the most part, they really suck. Civony (the one with the ads that are practically softcore porn) being the most egregious offender.

Civony/Evony has been tame with their ads for the last few months. They've actually been advertising the game instead of half-naked women. Unfortunately, it gives me less to laugh at.

 

[grodog]

The response was that EN Publishing was for-profit, but ENWorld was not. It was just supposed to cover its costs. If that's changed now, I'd appreciate a clarification.

That changed some months ago with the start of the subscriptions. It was fairly public, and there was a big thread about it at the time.

Hmmm, I missed that discussion, so thanks for clarifying. ENWorld being a for-profit venture doesn't change my interest in the community, or my suggestions about how to better communicate changes to the community, but it is still good info to know, context-wise (this is probably what I get for not reading the front page, I imagine ).

Giving out details of a plan comes across as a promise, and that's not usually something application providers want to do.

I think it would be even more important to provide a vision and execution plan if ENWorld is now a for-profit venture: that way folks will have a stronger sense of trust in what's going on, as well as when features/etc. will be available/completed---we'll know what they're getting for their money, basically. A good overall business plan, a project plan for site development, and a communication plan to help everyone understand what you're trying to do, strike me as essentials for running any business.

If he reveals the plan, but some technical limitation leads to a compromise such that he deviates from the plan, he can (and probably will) be accused of "lying" or trying to mislead folks for PR and advertising benefit.

Sure, but even if Morrus explicitly states that he's not committing to deliver anything in the plan (which, per my comment above, I think would be a mistake, but it's his choice to make either way), he could lay out the groundwork for his long term vision for what ENWorld will look like over the next 2-4 years or so, and how the Gamers Seeking Gamers and Online Gaming Tools features fit into that larger picture (are they the tip of the iceberg of the new site's features, are they the main components of the new revenue stream, are they free features available to all or will folks listing games have to pay a nominal fee, etc., etc.).

More info about the overall direction and about specific site features simply means that folks can assess what their relative worth is, to them---either as current subscribers or possible future subscribers.

And, along those lines, some sort of A La Carte subscription option might be worth considering too: someone may not be interested in feature X at level 1, but really want feature Y at level 2, and feature Z at level 3.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

You're not alone Grodog. I was totally oblivious to the fact that when EN World switched to monthly subscriptions it became a for-profit venture. I can understand Morrus wanting to get something out of all the time he puts in to the website.

At the same time, I can't help but feel that it takes away a bit of the "community" feel of the site (whether or not that is the case or not, that's just how I feel).

I can't really explain why I have that feeling either, I just do.

Maybe it is because I felt that previously EN World existed just for gamers to interact with other gamers. Now EN World still probably has the exact same goals as before, but it also has a goal of generating revenue above and beyond the costs of running the site. I totally get that Morrus has put in a lot of hours and money in to the website over the years for little to no benefit, yet I still can't help but feel a little different about the site compared to the way I felt before.

Olaf the Stout

 

[Mouseferatu]

yet I still can't help but feel a little different about the site compared to the way I felt before.

I do, too. I feel better about it.

Let's not kid ourselves. The amount of effort that Morrus has put into this site for years is practically worthy of nomination for sainthood. Lots of people work a lot less hard for actual pay. The fact that the site's lasted this long is nothing short of a minor miracle, and the chances that a site this massive and complex could go on indefinitely without somehow paying its owner for his time were exactly zero. Sooner or later, real life--be it finances or simple emotional burnout--were going to kill ENWorld; it was just a matter of time.

If the site can actually pay Morrus a living wage, even a small one, it's frankly got a much greater life expectancy than it ever had before.

This is not in any way some sort of "betrayal" of the site as a community hub, any more than it was a betrayal of D&D when Gygax and Arneson decided to sell it, rather than give it away for free. That's what ENWorld was before it became for-profit, and that's what it is now. The primary difference is that now, it's liable to be around for a lot longer.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I, for one, welcome our tiered subscription overlords.

I've even already edited my sig to reflect some of the changes that have been discussed.

 

[Sammael]

I urge you not to name the subscription tiers after 4e tiers. I for one will be really offended if you do this. I'm not kidding.